Neha Dhupia (“A Thursday”) and Adil Hussain (“Life of Pi”) will star in Egyptian director Ali El Arabi‘s upcoming drama “Blue 52,” about a young Indian soccer fan’s journey as a migrant worker to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

In El Arabi’s “Blue 52” Ashish endures his father’s isolating control on a remote island home in Kochi, India, but with his mother’s support, and lessons alongside inspiration from his late brother, he breaks free. Ashish embarks on a journey to meet his idol, Messi, at the World Cup in Qatar 22, leading him to face the world for the first time.

Production has now wrapped on “Blue 52,” which was initially meant to be a doc. The project has become a scripted feature, marking the feature film debut of El Arabi, who made a splash at virtual Sundance in 2021 with doc “Captains of Zaatari,” about the soccer dreams of young Syrian refugees.

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Dhupia and Hussain play Ashish’s mother and father, respectively, who live on an island in the Indian state of Kerala where Ashish (Yadav Shashidhar) has a sheltered existence. The film’s cinematographer is Egypt’s Mahmoud Basher, who previously worked with El Arabi on “Captains of Zaatari.”

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“Blue 52,” which blends reality and fiction, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the 2022 World Cup while capturing the lives of the workers who built the stadiums. 

“My aim is to show the workers not just as people in the shadows, but as humans who have dreams, fears and hopes that deserve to be acknowledged and seen,” El Arabi said in a statement. “It also becomes fascinating to have all these events take place in the backdrop of the FIFA World Cup, where our narrative featuring Ashish crosses paths with the real events as he witnesses Messi lifting his trophy and Ashish our actor becoming a part of the FIFA official music video.”

“Blue 52” is produced by El Arabi through his production and distribution company Ambient Light, which is based in Cairo and Los Angeles ,and executive produced by Tariq Al-Naama. Krysanne Katsoolis, Joe Matthews and Katara Studios are attached as co-producers.

In May, El Arabi’s Ambient Light Films came on board as co-producer on Mohamed Kordofani’s “Goodbye Julia,” Sudan’s second-ever Academy Award international feature film submission that is supported by Oscar-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o.

El Arabi is represented by CAA.

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